The General 360 Owners/Buyers FAQ Thread (Updated 1/15/10)

Burnout Revenge
Call of Duty 2
Burnout Paradise
The Orange Box
Battlefield Bad Company
Unreal Tournament 3
Dead Rising
Bully
Quake 4
Dark Sector
 
Tons of pretty decent games in the 9.99 list on the Best Buy sale. Only game I can think of not listed by the previous posters is Mass Effect, now $20 new. Look for the Greatest Hits version as the DLC and some other bonus stuff is thrown in for free.
 
Call of Juarez, I feel, is a pretty unique shooter, and worth the like $10 it is now. It may not be AAA, but if you're looking for something different, check it out.
 
I bought Streets of Rage 2 and every time i try to play the game, it tells me i have to purchase the full version, but i already did.
Does anyone else have a problem playing their full arcade games?
 
If you changed consoles from the one you downloaded it on, you may have to sing into Live before you play the full version. Theres a tool at xbox.com to change the license over to the new machine.
 
Sounds like you've moved your hard drive to another 360. If you're not playing on the console you originally purchased it on, then for most of your arcade games you'll need to be connected to Live in order to play. The DRM on SEGA games like Streets of Rage 2 are different though. Even if you are connected to Live the game thinks you don't own the full version. It's like this on all SEGA XBLA games, Braid, and Castle Crashers before it was patched. A work around for SEGA games is to start the game and once in the game go to unlock game, choose to download the trial game, once it's downloaded hit continue and you should be playing the full version. You'll have to do it every time you want to play though. Transferring your licenses to your current console might fix this. I haven't tried it.
 
I have the same problem with one XBLA game, Puzzle Fighter. I did the workaround to share the game (my friend downloaded it on his 360 with my gamertag), so I think that contributed to the problem. I did the transfer license thing, but nothing. I still have achievements, but it only appears as a Trial and it's not in my previously downloaded history list thingy.
 
This may sound stupid, but I have avoided buying any next gen games because they are not cheap. They seem pretty cheap now

Will I need an HDTV? I have a solid tv already(sony trinitron, but obviously not HD). I have put that off because they were pricey, but that really doesnt seem to be the case any more. Is there anything i should be wary of in looking for a tv good for gaming?

Basically, what sort of cheapass TV, that is NOT big screen, would be ideal for gaming?

Is the elite system worth the extra bucks?
I may just buy the arcade system on amazon, only 200 dollars free ship and no tax, or should I wait for a better deal?

Will I need the hard drive? If so, where is the cheapest place for that?

I picked up grand theft auto, infinite undiscovery and silent hill in recent sales. Gears of war looks like it could be a good cheap game, what are some of the other must own games? Probably fallout and halo 3? Resident evil 5 looks good but certainly not cheap at this point, and i guess same for fallout, tho i guess i can wait for a drop both of those

I liked the tiger woods franchise for the first xbox, is one of the tiger woods games for the xbox360 better than the rest?
 
That's a lot of questions. While I don't have time to answer all of them, I can tell you that YES you will need a hard drive for your 360. Even if it's a 20gb, but I'd recommend getting the Pro or Elite model. If you buy the arcade model plan on buying a hard drive too.

They have the Elite bundle with 120gb hard drive, Fable 2 & Halo 3 now for $400. Sometimes you can find a new one without games on Ebay for $320-350, possibly less if you use Live Search to get cashback on Ebay "buy it nows" (now at only 8% back).

You don't need an HDTV to play, it's just a far better visual experience. Keep in mind all these games are made with HDTV in mind, but you can wait on upgrading your TV 'til you can afford it. Yours will do fine for now. When shopping for an HDTV my recommendation is never buy one without seeing it in action with your own eyes.

Anyway good luck. Remember the new systems have a 1 year warranty and a 3 year warranty on the RROD problem.
 
Since you're already looking at Halo 3, I'd highly recommend the Elite, like Darrith said. Considering you're going to need a hard drive anyways, getting the largest one available future-proofs you for needing more space down the line. I'd also recommend Fallout and Fable 2 when you're able to.

As for the HDTV, I used my 360 for a solid year on just large SDTVs. There is certainly nothing wrong with the experience, and it still looks better than say a PS2, so there's no worry about that. But be aware that as soon as I hooked it up to an HDTV, there was a noticeable improvement.
 
you dont NEED an hdtv to play an 360 but its good to get one. One thing you want to look for is a decent contrast ratio & good black levels...meaning in the shadows u can see detail in the picture. 720p for smaller sets, 1080p for larger ones, there is a nice chart to show u viewing distance, size of set vs lines of resolution. when i first got my xbox i had a sony 32" flat tube, a year later i bought a 42" lcd. they dont cost that much and the difference is very nice.

you can get a nice Sharp lcd 40" for under 800$ now. if you want to be a real cheapass wait around for blackfriday to pick up a tv for some additional discounts.

since you have some games already from the BB deal, I would hold off on purchasing fo3 or gow. Prices only drop, so wait for a deal or price drop to hit them. fo3 was worth the full purchase price to me, but i only played fo3 for 50hours didn't switch disks to play another game.

the new pro bundle seems pretty good to get a 60gb hdd + wireless controller. thats how i would get a hdd for the system. Missed you comment about halo 3. go buy an elite like Luftwaffles08 said.
 
Be wary of playing some RPGs like Infinite Undiscovery on SDTVs.

I can't read any text on my 30 inch sdtv (it is way too small) so I have to put that game on hold until I have an HD. Another game that is near unreadable is star ocean 4.
 
[quote name='ToadallyAwesome']Be wary of playing some RPGs like Infinite Undiscovery on SDTVs.

I can't read any text on my 30 inch sdtv (it is way too small) so I have to put that game on hold until I have an HD. Another game that is near unreadable is star ocean 4.[/quote]

It seems a lot of the Japanese games have that problem oddly enough. Dead Rising had the same thing. "You want me to do what now?"
 
halo 3 isnt a necessity, its pretty time consuming, i will almost certainly enjoy gta4 more.

Waiting for BF for a big screen TV sounds like a fine idea, i am in no real rush. I can shop around a bit. the elite is probably a good option though.

The xbox 360 bundle with fable 2 and halo 2 for 400 shipped looks good, and comes out in a couple of days.

while this thing looks nice, i dont think i can really justify overpaying like crazy for a different colored system. http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Resi..._3?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1241020631&sr=8-3

ref=dp_otherviews_3
 
halo 3 isnt a necessity, its pretty time consuming, i will almost certainly enjoy gta4 more.

Waiting for BF for a big screen TV sounds like a fine idea, i am in no real rush. I can shop around a bit. the elite is probably a good option though.

The xbox 360 bundle with fable 2 and halo 2 for 400 shipped looks good, and comes out in a couple of days.

while this thing looks nice, i dont think i can really justify overpaying like crazy for a different colored system. http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Resi..._3?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1241020631&sr=8-3

ref=dp_otherviews_3
 
the joysticks are messed up...it randomly moves upward in game
i think the buttons arent as responsive
and those tiny bumps on the joysticks are gone
wats the best way to get my controller replaced?
thru microsoft? gamestop?
thanks
 
From the front page of... what's the name of that website? Oh, yeah Cheapassgamer. Amazon has 360 Wireless controllers on sale for $31.99 with free shipping in both black and white.

That is going to be your cheapest way to replace a controller with a new one.
 
[quote name='DCriminal']From the front page of... what's the name of that website? Oh, yeah Cheapassgamer. Amazon has 360 Wireless controllers on sale for $31.99 with free shipping in both black and white.

That is going to be your cheapest way to replace a controller with a new one.[/quote]

:applause:
 
Not quite sure what you're asking... Was it damaged somehow? The bumps disappearing sounds like extreme use or something. The rest of it...did it get wet or something? Get something in it?

If its under warranty you could try to go that route unless it was damaged. Otherwise I'd buy a new one or crack it open and see if there's any way to fix it.
 
[quote name='Wolfpup']Not quite sure what you're asking... Was it damaged somehow? The bumps disappearing sounds like extreme use or something. The rest of it...did it get wet or something? Get something in it?

[/quote]

No, the bumps just get faded after a year or two of gaming.
 
Huh. I've never had that happen. Though I don't use my 360 exclusively (also play my portables, PC, and Playstation 3 heavily too), so...

My oldest pad is probably only from 2007 too, since that's when my newest 360 is from.
 
[quote name='Wolfpup']Huh. I've never had that happen. Though I don't use my 360 exclusively (also play my portables, PC, and Playstation 3 heavily too), so...

My oldest pad is probably only from 2007 too, since that's when my newest 360 is from.[/quote]


Haha, I had to buy a new 360 controller last year becasue I was playing my 360 at least once every weekend since August 2006. Gears 1, Halo 3, GTA IV and Gears 2 really rubbed things down.
 
I had a strange problem come up yesterday with my 360, and I'm wondering if it's a common, or at least known problem. It froze up on me a couple times (about an hour or so apart) and when I shut it down and restarted it the second time, a message came up on the screen saying "Mode not supported". It's an HDMI-enabled model, and I was thinking maybe the HDMI cable was loose or something. But after checking and rechecking all the connections, it still wasn't coming up on my TV.

Then I thought (and hoped) it was just a problem with the HDMI cable. I have a PS3 hooked up to the same set, also via HDMI. I've tried switching the cables for each system, and I've tried plugging each one into different HDMI inputs on the TV. The PS3 comes up fine with either source and either cable; the 360 gets the "Mode not supported" message no matter which cable or input is used. So I've concluded that the problem is with the 360 itself, for whatever reason, it's suddenly not working with HDMI.

Not sure if this matters, but the first time it froze yesterday I wasn't able to shut the system off with the controller, or by pushing the power button on the front. I eventually had to unplug the power-brick, then replug it in. When the "Mode not supported" problem first came up, I thought it might just need to reset itself after being shut down that way. Anyway, after I plugged it back in, I played a game of NBA 2K8, everything was fine, and then after I popped the disc out, it froze again when I was just on the dashboard.

Anybody have any idea if there's a simple fix for this? I'm thinking I'm probably going to have to send it in and pay Microsoft to repair it. Thanks for any help or advice.
 
I have a question, has anyone ever used the saitek rumble pad made for the xbox, if so what did you think about it? I bought one last night but got the wrong one I ended up with the one for the pc instead so I have to take it back to frys. out of curiousity I plugged it anyways and it wouldn't work. I also have a ps3 and plugged it into that as well and it worked. the only thing missing was the ps3 home button. So that made me wonder will the saitek xbox controller also work on the ps3 or the one for the ps3 work on the xbox. has anyone else tried this out?

here are the controllers I am curious about .

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/p3200v2.htm

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/ps2700.htm

thanks for your input
 
I just got my 360 back today after sending it in due to the E79 error and i cant play my arcade games when i am not connected to live.

When i am not connected to live all my arcade games except for Banjo-Tooie, Dash of Destruction, and Hexic HD show up as trial games instead of the full version. I tried deleting a game from the HD and then I redownloaded it and the game still shows up as a trial game.

What can i do?

:cry:
 
They sent you a different system-you just need to do that license transfer thing to get the stuff you've "bought" associated with the new system. The catch is you can only do the transfer once a year. There's info on it up on the Xbox site.
 
fucking Xbox Live service is such garbage. My accounts suspended because I didn't update my card information so it could not charge me another 50 bucks. So they suspend my account? I thought it would be reverted to silver. So, I tried canceling it but you have to call and they are closed. I just want to download the damn Xmen demo...

Ugh...
 
Yeah, seriously. You'd assume it would just revert to Silver (duh!) Situations like that are why I'll never give Microsoft my card number directlly. I mean I've heard a lot of weird things like that over the last few years (people not being able to get rid of recurring charges, etc.

Anyway, here's the direct link for that license transfer thing. I just Googled xbox license transfer and it was the first hit.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/licensemigration/
 
Yeah, when I first got my 360, I made the stupid mistake of giving them a credit card, before I was aware of the fact that they don't let you delete all of the cards off your account without calling them. What a bunch of nonsense. You'd think something like that would be illegal. I'm not allowed to remove my own personal information? Wow.
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']Yeah, when I first got my 360, I made the stupid mistake of giving them a credit card, before I was aware of the fact that they don't let you delete all of the cards off your account without calling them. What a bunch of nonsense. You'd think something like that would be illegal. I'm not allowed to remove my own personal information? Wow.[/quote]

Ugh, totally true. I've been trying to get my GF's credit card off of my account for a while... pain in the ass calling them. I'll never make the stupid mistake of giving them my cards again.

[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']They suspended your account? Wow. That's extremely lame.[/quote]

Yes... thank you. I am unable to do anything with my account until I pay them 50 bucks. Why? No idea...

*bah* doesn't matter anyways, I tried downloading Wolverine demo on my silver account but it is only available for Gold. Ok... no more of this. -_-
 
I bit

Just ordered the halo2/fable xbox elite bundle on amazon. i figure if i end up not using the system i can still sell it and not take a huge hit, unless there is a 100 dollar price drop at e3(with my luck this will probably happen but if it does its not the end of the world)

I dont have a hd tv, maybe will camp out on BF. or just pay a few hundred at costco for a 20 inch vizio, they look pretty good to me.

So far i have GTA, fable2, halo3, infinite undiscovery and silent hill. that should keep me busy. When some other games like fallout3 can be bout for under 20 dollars i will bite on those as well.

i am curious just how much better this would look on the HD, i have played it on HDTV, but never side by side, so I dont really know how much I am downgrading. I am curious about the online play, will have to give that a shot with halo 2.

edit
yikes, my post is number 6666!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='Wolfpup']They sent you a different system-you just need to do that license transfer thing to get the stuff you've "bought" associated with the new system. The catch is you can only do the transfer once a year. There's info on it up on the Xbox site.[/quote]

[quote name='Wolfpup']Anyway, here's the direct link for that license transfer thing. I just Googled xbox license transfer and it was the first hit.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/licensemigration/[/quote]

Thank you. It took awhile to download everything but it worked. :)
 
Sorry to quote my own post from the last page, but I just wanted to give it one more shot to see if anyone can help me out before this gets buried too deep in the thread. Anyone?

[quote name='Danimal']I had a strange problem come up yesterday with my 360, and I'm wondering if it's a common, or at least known problem. It froze up on me a couple times (about an hour or so apart) and when I shut it down and restarted it the second time, a message came up on the screen saying "Mode not supported". It's an HDMI-enabled model, and I was thinking maybe the HDMI cable was loose or something. But after checking and rechecking all the connections, it still wasn't coming up on my TV.

Then I thought (and hoped) it was just a problem with the HDMI cable. I have a PS3 hooked up to the same set, also via HDMI. I've tried switching the cables for each system, and I've tried plugging each one into different HDMI inputs on the TV. The PS3 comes up fine with either source and either cable; the 360 gets the "Mode not supported" message no matter which cable or input is used. So I've concluded that the problem is with the 360 itself, for whatever reason, it's suddenly not working with HDMI.

Anybody have any idea if there's a simple fix for this? I'm thinking I'm probably going to have to send it in and pay Microsoft to repair it. Thanks for any help or advice.[/QUOTE]
 
I'm pretty sure it is. Both systems have been set up on the same TV for close to a year now, and I didn't adjust anything before it stopped working, unless unhooking the power brick from the back of the 360 (when I couldn't unfreeze it or shut it down) somehow affected the resolution setting.
 
[quote name='dracula']I bit

Just ordered the halo2/fable xbox elite bundle on amazon. i figure if i end up not using the system i can still sell it and not take a huge hit, unless there is a 100 dollar price drop at e3(with my luck this will probably happen but if it does its not the end of the world)

I dont have a hd tv, maybe will camp out on BF. or just pay a few hundred at costco for a 20 inch vizio, they look pretty good to me.

So far i have GTA, fable2, halo3, infinite undiscovery and silent hill. that should keep me busy. When some other games like fallout3 can be bout for under 20 dollars i will bite on those as well.

i am curious just how much better this would look on the HD, i have played it on HDTV, but never side by side, so I dont really know how much I am downgrading. I am curious about the online play, will have to give that a shot with halo 2.

edit
yikes, my post is number 6666![/QUOTE]

If you've got a monitor, that works great with the 360, and could tide you over until you get an HDTV. IMO the current gen systems aren't usable on an SDTV. I mean some games might be playable, but they look terrible, and quite often you can't even read text or interface elements, etc.

I just used my monitor to play my 360 until I got an HDTV (and it was these new systems that pushed me to do that...well, that and my old TV died finally).
 
^^ no i have a flat panel lcd for my computer, no hd. i will probably pick one up, i dont know. i know they look awesome on hd tv, but it sort of comes down to space. i have one bigass tv. if i get a hd, it would have to be flat screen, which i guess isnt a big deal. i may just check craig's list for that
 
What's your monitor? Unless it's some CRT from like 1994 or something, it's going to support HD. I'd just use that until you've got a bigger HDTV. I mean it has to look better, and in a lot of cases actually be playable, versus doing it on an SDTV.

Of course if its small you'll be stuck sitting close, but at least it'll work.
 
So... fuck Xbox Live up the ass. I'm done. I called and they said that I have to pay 50 bucks in order for my account to be unsuspended. Does that make any sense? So screw this. Darknessbearx is now dead... yipee...
 
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